Shadow World
by DreadCraft
Summary: In a sleepy town, a ragtag gang of ninja hope to live out their days in peace. But the full weight of history will come barreling down on them as they are swept up by events surrounding the founding of Konoha. Full summary inside.
1. Preface

In a sleepy town, a band of free ninja attempt to lead a decent life, but events conspire to make them central in a revolution that will change the ninja world forever. Set within the epic context is a romance that will serve as a window into good and evil as seen through the eyes of this world's deadliest killers. And through it all, the ninjas must struggle to witness history - and survive its outcome.

Shadow World is a historical epic taking place in the Naruto continuum. It explores the founding of the Hidden Villages, the outbreak of the Biju, the transformation of the pre-ninja world, and what it means for a normal person to tread upon the world-behind-the-world that a ninja faces every day.


	2. Guardians

**Shadow World**

"Hello," I greeted an old fisherman setting up his market-place stand. It was a cool early morning in this mildly prosperous fishing and farming village. Years ago I had adopted this place as my home, for since then my gang and I had been watching over it. The old man looked up from his efforts and returned the courtesy in the gruff but brittle tone only the decrepit can manage.

"Good day Eihei." He smiled at me with his broken grin of blacked and chipped teeth. Acknowledging him quickly with a nod, I strode past and beyond. I stopped at the teahouse central to the village. Stepping into the teahouse under the curtain it had serving as a door, I sat down meeting my compatriots. This quiet town was called Ikawa and nominally my home.

"Good morning," grunted Mori between bites of his breakfast. One of my gang, his friendly but gluttonous behavior was a trademark to the local villagers. To one of our ilk, however, his prodigious strength held most weight. His massive kanabou laid in a deep divot in the earthen floor of the teahouse. Flanking him were the twins Koga and Iga. The two of them, despite identical features, were opposites in terms of coloration. Both were built long but muscled as warriors should, which high cheekbones and eyes that betrayed their state of constant focus. They were both clean-shaven as I was, in contrast to Mori's covered face. But Koga was dark with black hair and eyes while Iga had blond hair and argent-blue eyes.

Other tables held the rest of our gang. Fumiya was garbed in an expensive looking but self-made yukata with cherry blossom print. Her hushed, delicate voice conversed with her friend and self-deigned protector. Maya was a foreboding woman. She stood at nearly seven feet tall and had a strength to rival Mori's. Her heavily muscled form and bronzed skin made her a daunting figure indeed. She was actually quite lovely if not for her powerful stature. The last member of our gang was Ken. Scarcely larger than five feet, he was a midget but held impressive strength for his size. He sported a rough goatee and snake-like gaze. I wave at their table without any immediate acknowledgement, as was their way.

As I sat down, the proprietor laid some tea and food down for me. I thanked him and began eating. After a while, the other table came over to talk. "Eihei-sama, have you a mission for us today?" asked Fumiya.

I replied to her. "I'm sorry kitsu-chan, but your love of gold will not be sated this day." I had found Fumiya as an infant abandoned at a grassy knoll. At first, I had thought to deliver her into the hands of the first willing couple I could find, after all, I had only been thirteen when I found her. However, I was shocked to discover she was a chakra manipulator - a ninja child. So I took her and raised her as my own since then. Her skills as an actor and illusionist became a joke amongst the gang. We all made fun of her saying she had been born to kitsune.

With a pout, she sat on my lap and looked near tears. "I cannot stand this place anymore. We could be doing so much more than scratching out a living in the nether-regions of Fire Country."

"I know kitsu-chan, but you haven't seen the world like I have. There is gold to be had, yes, but no time to indulge. You would be fighting for your life every minute of every day." I told her. Then I felt a tingle on the back of my neck.

"I hear horses." Ken told me.

"How far?" I asked.

"Fifty miles or so. They are headed towards this village."

I nodded and signaled to the rest of the gang. We would have to investigate these newcomers.


	3. Unwanted Guests

Our home village was located in a small river valley on the border with Lightning Country to the north. To our east was lands controlled by the Hyuuga clan, whom we occasionally trade with. The rest of Fire Country surrounded us to the south and west while the lands north of us were contested between Lightning and Earth. The important thing was that we were situated upon the straightest route to Lightning from Fire Country without passing through Hyuuga lands who often would demand fees for crossing through their borders.

Waiting in the presumed raider's path, the gang gathered around Ken. Deep in concentration Ken placed his hands on the ground. The gang waited for his report. "There is a van of about a hundred horseman leading a small baggage train." Ken reported. Among us he was the intellectual. He preferred more study-intensive methods of serving. His ninjutsu, seal-making, traps, and sense-enhancement were top rate to compensate for his lack of strength. "Wait, the host is separating from the baggage train and picking up speed. They'll be at Ikawa in a few hours."

"Alright, I'll assault the baggage train, the rest of you take the van. Fumiya, wait at the town in case some of them split off and reach it." I told the rest of the crew. Despite being colorful characters at times, we all knew when to hold to strict military-like discipline. They wouldn't question my orders.

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My specialty when dealing with combat was stealth. So true to my nature, I walked amongst the baggage train using my chakra to channel light through myself making me effectively invisible. I inspected the loot they carried. It seemed to contain mostly food and weapons though I did hear the unmistakable clinking of coinage. At the back of the baggage train there was a wheeled cage. Inspecting it I found several people inside. _These slavers are sloppy._ Indeed they did not pay much attention to their wares. Out of the dozen or so slaves, five were dead and rotting. Much of the rest looked malnourished and had blank stares. _Except for one._

A young lady, probably only a couple years younger than my twenty-eight years of age, seemed to be fairly hearty. _Probably a recent acquisition._ To my surprise, however, she did something unexpected. One of the bars of rickety wood was loosened from wear and tear. Seeing an opportunity, she squeeze through the gap. She stumbled as she hit the ground but quickly righted herself and ran.

"Hey, the new girl got out!" One of the bandits shouted. Out of the twenty or so guards, eighteen of them peeled off to chase after her. The other two stopped the baggage train to wait for the recapture party. Seeing as how she had made the decision for me, I decided to take action. I drew my katana and channeled wind element through it. With abundant economy of motion, I stabbed through the heads of remaining guards in quick succession. They fell like marionettes with their strings cut, for I had aimed for the brain stems to ensure no resistance. With that business taken care of, I ran after the girl.

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A mile in the opposite direction the train had been heading, I found them. Two men were holding down the struggling young woman, and having surprising trouble doing so. She was a spirited one with the attitude of a cornered animal.

"Yowww." Grunted out one of the pursuers. He was holding up a bloody digit. "Bitch bit me!" He cocked his hand back and gave her a backhand slap across the face. Though she had tears in her eyes and an angry welt on her face, she had the gall to spit back at him. Further enraged, he balled his hand into a fist ready to strike. By that time I had reached them. With a slash, I instantly decapitated the one about to strike, announcing my presence. The woman was stunned as she was splashed with his blood, but his confederates displayed the same reaction.

I internally scoffed. _No wonder they were left to guard the baggage train. Any decent warrior would have instantly sprung into action with better presence of mind._ Taking advantage of their stunned state, I continued lopping off heads. After the rout was psychologically completed, they finally broke out into action. By that time, my superior ninja speed had already cut their numbers down to a few. The three left, charged at me in concert, but I sidestepped all three and casually butchered them.

A slight shift in the air alerted me to the presence of a heavy object being hurled through the air at me. I turned and slapped the rock away with the flat of my blade. "That is not necessary. I will not harm you." It was the woman that had thrown it in desperate fear. Obviously she had thought I were merely contesting the bandits for the slaves rather than liberating them.

Her eyes were wide in fright as she collapsed with her back resting against a tree. The stress of the previous moments had finally gotten to her as she began sobbing uncontrollably. I, for one, was impressed at her self-control. A non-warrior that did not break emotionally until after a violent episode was rare. She continued her sobbing for a few minutes until they gradually became more muted and finally died out altogether as her exhaustion led her to sleep. I draped her over my shoulder and headed back for the rest of the slaves.

Finding the baggage train where I had left it, I inspected it to find not one person had left. They all seemed resigned to their fates. So to prove my sincerity, I cut open their cages, yet none would yet budge. Concluding they were closer to starvation than I had imagined, I gathered up the horses pulling the baggage train and led them towards Ikawa.


	4. A Bounty of Fear

On the way back to the village, I came across the battleground where the van of the bandit forces met my own small cadre of warriors. The ground war rent with the after-effect of a ferocious, albeit one-sided, battle. And it was soaked through and through with the blood of the vanquished. My own people were in the process of policing the battlefield. They stripped the bandits of weapons and serviceable equipment as well as purses with whatever amounts of currency they held.

With his kanabou hefted over his shoulder, Mori strode up to me to give me a report on the situation. "Eihei, the final count was just under two-hundred bandits. And they were surprisingly well provisioned. They mostly had well made tsurugi in the old style. Each had about ten bu of gold in their purses. Their clothing isn't luxurious but they're cleaner than your average bandit and they aren't threadbare. My guess is mercenaries for whatever reason." The stocky man told me.

"Let's get back to town and sort things out," I told my present company.

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As things had turned out, a smaller force of scouts and skirmishers had broken off and made it to the village. As we made our way to the mouth of the village, where the road fed into it, we were greeted by the sight of Fumiya surrounded by eight dead bodies without any visible sign of struggle. The eight bodies looked to be the command company of the mercenaries. Their dai-katana were well made and they have samurai-like lamellar armor on, all of it dyed completely black. Shaking my head, I walked up to where Fumiya lay. She was completely nude and rolling around in ryo and older, but more valuable oban currencies.

"My my, where did you get all this money Fumiya-hime?" I said teasingly. She looked up beaming a smile from ear to ear.

"The bandit leader and his cronies kept a nice purse on each of them. I got bored of waiting for you all after I killed them so I decided to go swimming!" She said. The bodies all had small puncture wounds at various places on their exposed skin. Fumiya killed by poison and needles.

"In money?" I asked. She nodded.

"You know that's always been a dream of mine." She happily defended. "Who's that?" She inquired, pointing to the woman draped over my shoulder.

"The bandits were part-time slavers as well. Not very good ones at that. This girl is one of the few that survived their negligent treatment." I told her. At that moment the townsfolk made their presence felt. The village elder and magistrate, a still hearty man of fifty, came forth with some of the more curious townsfolk. They helped the surviving slaves out of the cage and carried them over to the longhouse Genyosha - the village's chirurgeon -practiced at. I looked to Hideki, the magistrate. "I'll have Mori come help the doctor. They should all be looked at." Mori, despite being a brute in battle, was a competent medic-nin as well. "Also, Hideki, there are about two thousand gold oban in that baggage train. Go ahead and take half of it for the village treasury." He smiled in appreciation and motioned to a couple of his deputies to do just that.

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My gang and I gathered at our usual meeting place in the teahouse. "Why would some well-to-do mercenaries resort to banditry?" I pondered out loud. "The ruling lord of Fire Country depends on mercenary companies for a quarter of his military strength, and he pays quite well." And he could afford to. Fire Country was the envy of its neighbors. It was ninety percent arable, and what regions were not arable were mountainous and rich in valuable minerals. In addition to that, it's coastlines were vast, teeming with aquaculture and had numerous natural harbors to facilitate trade. Even it's inland areas were permeated by wide rivers to make travel easy. Because of Fire Country's riches, the Fire Lord had to support a professional army as well as mercenaries while leaving emergency funds to hire out a ninja clan if need be.

"You could ask the mercenary commander why he would do such a thing." Fumiya volunteered. I looked at her questioningly. "I knew you might want to ask questions, so I only incapacitated him." She beamed.

"Good thinking Kitsu-chan." I rubbed her head appreciatively. We walked back outside to the scene of the battle and located the mercenary commander, whose shallow breaths we could scarcely sense. Fumiya was very good with her drugs, poisons, and herb lore.

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"Wake up." Fumiya cooed to the mercenary. She had removed the incapacitating poison from his system. So he snapped awake to find himself tied down to a chair. Fumiya and I had appropriated a cheap hut to use for his interrogation. It had no windows and the doors were shut. I myself was cloaked beside her, she would handle the interrogation. Likely, the commander knew not of the rest of our force. No need to volunteer that information.

"What? Huh-" The commander murmured. "You were that girl in front of the village." He finally was able to form a coherent thought.

Fumiya gave a little giggle. "Mmm hmm. What brings you to my village my dear captain?" She asked with a look of pure innocence.

Gathering some gall, he replied. "Untie me sweetie, and I'll tell you. Or better yet, I'll show you." He made of a show of straining against his bonds, attempting to fluster Fumiya.

"Oh my, what a big strong captain, I guess I should do as he says." She dramatized. She took out a dagger, and slashed through his bindings. Immediately he rose to his feet and charged at her full-bodied, aiming to pin her down. But with speed borne of years of training she merely grabbed his wrist with her delicate hands and hurled him against the side of the hut.

Disbelievingly, the mercenary again rose to his feet. "What are you?" He asked. I chose that moment to release my technique. I stopped passing light through myself so that he would be able to see me. It was as if I had appeared from nowhere.

"We are ninja." The commander recoiled in fear. Ninja were not well known entities for the uninitiated. Common people's inability to deal with us gave us a godlike image among them. Or rather they demonized us, making us sound like the bogeyman. This captain was properly convinced.

"Please just let me go. I'll tell you anything you want." At this point he was close to panic. So I just casually asked him.

"What were you and your dearly departed men doing here?" He told us his story as I listened. After half an hour of questioning, we finished. I nodded to Fumiya and she pricked the commander on the neck with a needle. As he turned to look at her, he found he had trouble breathing.

"Go to sleep my sweet captain." She said as she rubbed his cheek. Soon, though, his expression slacked until a keeled over, his face starting to take on the slightly off-colored hue of the asphyxiated. She grabbed him by the hand and dragged the carcass outside to be buried with his men.

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	5. In the Wake of Fire

"So what did you get out of the mercenary?" Mori asked. He was voicing the rest of the gang's thoughts as we had once again gathered to discuss unfolding events.

"His company was cut from the rolls of the Fire Country forces just recently. Most of his troops have no experience in civilian pursuits so raiding was the only way he knew to provide for them. He says his experience isn't unique either. Every single other mercenary commander was released without compensation." I told my assembled people.

"How is the Fire Lord getting away with this? Without the mercenaries, his regular troops will be spread thin and should be on the verge of mutiny. And he can't raise more regular troops without resorting to unpopular conscriptions." Ken conjectured aloud.

"The mercenary commander tells me ninety percent of his regular army is being released too. The difference is that they're being given lands to farm and their pensions are intact." I said.

"Are they mad? Pretty soon, this place is going to be torn apart by Lightning, Wind, Earth, and whoever else wants a piece." Ken said with no little surprise in his voice.

"The Fire Lord isn't worried because he has ninja doing the job." By now, Ken and the others were slack-jawed. "The Uchiha and Senju have concluded some sort of permanent alliance. The Fire Lord has asked them to serve as the country's primary defense and policing force. They're getting about three-quarters of the former military budget as a permanent defense contract. Furthermore, they're still able to take private missions and bounty missions as long as they fulfill their primary contract. It's quite lucrative for this juggernaut the Uchiha and Senju have founded." I reported.

"It's brilliant." Everyone looked at Mori, who had spoken. "He gets a thousand ninja to do the job of five-million soldiers. They cost more per man, but you need a lot less. And they can do the job better." I thought about it and it was true.

"We won't learn anything sitting in this backwater, no offense to the good people here. Tomorrow, lets take a trip to Kaishu in Hyuuga ancestral territory. We've gathered quite a bounty recently, we can use it to get re-outfitted while we talk to some shinobi for their take on this." Heads nodded all around.

"Oh my gosh, really? I haven't been there in so long…" Fumiya was a lover of fine things and would be able to indulge at the Hyuuga-held urban center.

"Yes Kitsu-chan. I have some other business to attend to there, so we might as well all go." I told her.

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The Hyuuga would not be the only one I would consult however. Many of the men of Ikawa fished the downstream portion of the river. I greeted them as I walked but continued my path upriver. A couple miles upriver would be a waterfall. Within its cascade lived those with whom I wished to speak with. But to my surprise, someone else was there. It was the girl I had saved. She sat upon a boulder on a small beach by the riverbank, wringing out her wet hair. As she was completely nude, I took in the sight out of appreciation for her form at first. She had shoulder-length black hair and a trim, healthy build. Along with her soft facial features, firm buttocks, and perky breasts, I could see why the slavers would have spared her. She'd make a lot of money in some brothel in Lightning. However my ninja mind soon turned its more clinical evaluation.

Sharpening my eyes, I saw no calluses on her hands or feet. Her skin was nearly perfect. It had seen just enough sunlight to disallow the sickly pallor of a recluse. But it was still smooth and unblemished. Her hair, reaching just below her shoulders, looked healthy with no split ends or other sorts of damage. To achieve this, it must have seen treatment with oils and unguents at some point. Likewise, her body was toned but obviously not from any sort of strained work. It seemed it came from play or exercise. Daughters of farmers did not usually have such luxuries her body had obviously seen.

She did not notice as I walked up behind her and spoke. "You should not be so far from the village, or have you not learned your lesson the first time?"

Shocked, she bolted upright, clutching her robes to herself which had been lying on the ground beside the boulder. "What are you doing here?" She lashed out.

"I'm here to see a friend." I told her.

"I hardly know you." She replied with the raise of an eyebrow.

"But I know you all so well. I was the one that saved you." Her eyes focused with the look of recognition. Before she could say anything though, I preempted her. "In any case, it's not you I'm talking about. Gamyo, tell your grandfather I'm coming to see him." Confused, the girl looked around. Seeing no one there, she looked back to me as if I were insane.

"My name isn't Gamyo, it's Omiko." She said.

"Please don't ignore my friend, he's been watching over you this whole time." I pointed behind her and she looked. What looked to be a puddle in the sand, nestled against the waterfront, suddenly shot upward. Startled, Omiko ran behind me and hid herself as a child would when confronted by a unpleasant sight. A slimy, translucent film came over the top of the puddle, covering it like an eyelid. Attached to the puddle looked like a shell-less man-turtle. The creature was about four feet tall with bluish-green skin. It had smooth, reptilian skin and a turtles beak for a nose. "That, Omiko, is a kappa."

"Okay, I'll tell grandfather you're coming." The creature squealed out. And with that, the creature disappeared behind the waterfall.

On impulse, I turned to my now reticent guest and held out my hand. "Omiko, would you like to see something wondrous?" She struggled internally, curious, yet so frightened. In the end though, she nodded and took my hand. I held out my other hand and channeled a ninpo to part the water as I led her through it. The site on the other side was astonishing, even to me when I first saw it. To a woman like Omiko, it was a once in a lifetime sight.

Behind the waterfall was a huge cavernous space. In a deep pit with sheer cliffs walls about fifty feet high there was a pool of perfectly clear, crystal blue water. From the water jutted humungous stalagmites made of jade-like gemstone. At the base of each stalagmite was a hemi-spherical hole like a door.

"How do we reach the bottom? There's no stairs." Omiko asked.

"I would have to carry you if you don't mind." I replied. She bit her lip in slight apprehension but her curiosity had won over since the day began, and it didn't look like she was keen on the prospect of turning away at this point. So I took her into my arms and leapt over the edge. Near the bottom, I channeled chakra to my feet and slowed our descent by walking the edges of the cliff wall. She let out a scream the whole way down until we reached the bottom and she noticed we were still alive. I gave her something between a cheeky grin and a knowing smile as I carried her over the water into the heart of the kappa city and its largest stalagmite.


	6. Awakenings

The kappa city housed a simple but complete society. As we entered the central stalagmite, attendants and guards awaited us in the antechamber. Oriyume, the majordomo of the High Elder's household came to greet us.

"Welcome once again Eihei-san. I must beg your patience. Shingomu-sama is busy with his meditations and cannot be disturbed. I must ask you wait until he is ready to receive you." Oriyume grunted out in the balky tongue of man. With that, Oriyume led us to a more appropriate waiting room. "Would you like anything for you or your guest Eihei-san?" Oriyume asked us.

"Not at this time Ori, but we'd like something to sit on if you would be so kind." I replied to the creature. With a gesture, he obliged us. Two columns of the jade-stone rose up from the ground. A portion of it stopped while it continued growing a backrest on one side. "Thanks Ori."

The creature bowed its head and left the room, presumably to attend to other household matters.

"How long does this usually take?" Omiko asked, sitting next to me.

"The elder kappa ritualistically meditate three times a day for a couple hours each. It's what passes for sleep among them I suppose. But it also creates some sort of bond with their home here. What Ori did isn't a power that can be learned, instead it comes from being linked to this place. The jade-stone here is alive in a sense. It's powered, or so rumored to be, from the spirits of the kappa's ancestors."

"You seem to know a lot about them." Omiko noticed.

"These kami may seem wondrous beings to someone like you, and they are in many ways. However, to a ninja, they are just beings. We have the capacity to do wondrous and terrifying things, we are no different from them." I spelled out to her.

"I can see that." She whispered to herself as she stared downward, turning from my gaze.

"When I first came here, it was as a hostile enemy, you know." I said with some regret leaking into my voice and countenance.

"How? You seem like an old friend to them, they familiar way they look at you. I saw it. It was like they expect you here often." She said.

"That, is a story I suppose I can tell." And I looked away with a distant gaze, conjuring memories past.

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Ikawa, when I first came upon it, was besieged by the kappa. Every day, a child of the village would disappear. The only clue as to their whereabouts would be wet tracks leading into the river, the tracks being that of webbed-footed men - the kappa. In those days, it was just Mori, Fumiya and I. The three of us came upon this town looking for a home. At this point Fumiya was still a babe. I myself was a child in some ways. Mori was the father-figure. He had been a friend of my father's and was the first to guide my steps as a neophyte shinobi.

With Fumiya in tow, we needed a haven in which to raise her. I walked up to the village gates and called out.

"Ho there! We are friends merely looking for safe haven good peoples." The townsfolk did not return the sentiment at that time. They surrounded us and held fishing spears and pitchforks at the ready. "What is the meaning of this? We've done you no harm."

At this point Hideki ran up towards the commotion. It was my first meeting with him and I owe him for diffusing the troublesome situation. "Stop everyone! We can't go around thinking every single person we come across is the kidnapper."

"What kidnapper?" I asked.

Hideki looked ashamed at his lack of circumspection but answered nonetheless. "Recently, children have gone missing in the village. We've lost a dozen children this last month." He told me.

"I might be able to help." I told him.

He looked understandably suspicious of my claim. "And what would you do youngling?"

"The question is what would 'you' do for me if I were to solve your problem?" I shot back.

The man scoffed and said, "if you're looking for a haven, we'll provide you one." I nodded and turned to Mori.

"Mori, these people say they've had problems with a kidnapper. If that's true, you can't come with me on this. You have to look after Fumiya."

"I understand. You think you can find the kidnapper yourself?" Mori asked.

"I'll have to, won't I?" I replied.

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I began my search by examining the homes from which the children had been claimed to have been abducted from. I could feel chakra lingering about. But it wasn't normal. It had a peculiar quality to it, it just seemed - alien. The authorities had been unusually uncooperative in sharing information, but this raised certain questions I needed an answer for. And I wouldn't be ignored again.

So that night I came to see Hideki. He was working late at his office. As the magistrate he had to organize the search for the missing, and without much in the way of tools, he was overworked and ornery. Good. Then I won't feel bad about what I was about to do. I cloaked myself in shadow and entered in office. No one else was around, and I doubt anyone was even awake. It was good Hideki was diligent, but his effort would be for naught if he continued to underestimate me.

I revealed myself in front of his drowsy form and grabbed his neck in a single-handed choke. "Listen well fool. I need to know a few things. If you answer me honestly I can bring back your children and you can breathe once more. If not, I might just make myself the new magistrate by sunrise, understand?" He nodded in the affirmative even as he was struggling to breathe.

"Has anyone caught a glimpse of the perpetrators?" He shook his head in the negative. Obviously, whoever did this must have been at least somewhat proficient in stealth. This ruled out the possibility of a random troublemaker.

"Have you had anyone newly resident to the village since the disappearing began?" He shook his head no again. This lessened out the possibility of a ninja. Any human would rather stay in town than scratch out a living in the wilds. I knew we were dealing with youkai or kami. I released my grip on the man and he immediately collapsed in a coughing fit as he struggled to regain his breathing. I used the opportunity to leave quietly.

That would be difficult. My knowledge of such beings was still limited at the time. I would need Mori to accompany me. That meant entrusting Fumiya to someone in the village. Reluctantly, we did. We chose the village's chirurgeon, whose name was Genosuke Genyosha, and left on our hunt.

We looked the most simple and basic way. Employing tracking skills and wood lore, we canvassed the surrounding woods. As expected, it took a while before we encountered any promising clues. As luck would have it, we stumbled upon a peculiar mystery linked to our situation, though we did not know at the time. In one section of the forest, we saw a murder of crows swoop down. Thinking the worst, we investigated it hoping it did not signify the death of one of our rescue targets. Instead, we found that the crows had spotted a few dead foxes outside of their den. At first I was disappointed, a few dead animals was not worthy of my time, limited as it was. However, my instincts screamed at me that something was off. Looking closer, I could sense something wrong. There were faint traces of chakra lingering about. Normal creatures did not have a life-force strong enough to do this, these foxes were kitsune kits. And upon even closer examination, Mori and I discovered two alarming things.

One, the kits had had their skulls bashed in. They did not die by natural causes. Likely, it was not the meek villagers that would do something like this. Second of all, there was another chakra signature about, and it was far more ominous.

"Move!" I yelled out to Mori. We both dove in opposite directions and a tremendous crash rang in our ears. In place of our former positions stood a monstrous oni with his kanabou dug into the ground. This particular oni had rams horns where his ears should have been and two smaller straight horns jutting from its chin. It stood about twelve feet tall. It had a single smoke colored eye that betrayed its nature as a mindless beast. At this point though, how it and the dead kitsune figured into our mystery was the furthest thing from our thoughts. It had its eye on us, so either we'd kill it, or it'd kill us.

The creature charged at the biggest target, which would be Mori. He leapt away of its bull rush, but the oni had surprising agility as it slid, spun, and hurled its kanabou in one swift motion. Mori could only allow himself to fall down as the blunt weapon spun end over end over where Mori's head had just been.

While the creature was occupied by Mori, I took the opportunity to flank it. Finally close enough, I leapt onto its back and gripped its horns tightly. With all the chakra-induced strength I could muster, I pulled and shook. The creature roared in pain as its sensitive horns were being torn at. In a desperate attempt to dislodge me off its back, it thrashed about with gusto. I wrapped my legs around its body and flattened myself against its back in a struggle to hang on. It quickened its pace and I knew it would only be a matter of time until I'd be forced to abandon my position.

Luckily, by this time, Mori had picked up the kanabou belonging to the oni. He quickly ran up to it and swung the massive weapon dead center against the beast. It bellowed a deep growl as Mori battered its side not once but twice. Hurt but not crippled, the oni swung its arm and caught Mori in a backhanded swipe that lifted Mori off his feet and slammed him against a nearby tree. It turned to finish Mori. In a last ditch effort to save him, I stabbed a kunai into the creatures back to once again garner his attention. The creature stumbled slightly, finally showing signs of injury and fatigue, but it still had an enormous reserve of strength.

Seeing as how I'd not be able to win against the oni in a battle of strength, I'd just have to find a way to outsmart it. As it faced me, I threw a shuriken dead center into it's eye. It shrieked in agony but the tough creature had no easy outs. Once again, it was only a painful, not damaging blow even to such a vital area. But the important thing was that its attention was firmly on me. I ran.

I ran about a mile or so until I came upon a lake. The creature followed me as I ran upon the lake's surface. The creature leapt onto the water opening up webbing on its feet. Between the webbing, and the speed at which it ran across the water, it was able to keep itself above the surface instead of drowning. Grousing at its ability to adapt to anything I had hoped to accomplish, I tried to find another weakness. Hoping its feet were now that weakness, I dove underneath the water. The creature, enraged at my evasion, ran around the surface, slamming its kanabou down on the water whenever it got close to me. Like a couple of jousters, I sized it up and attacked on his next pass. Narrowly avoiding being brained by the beast, I was able to stab upward into its webbed feet. As I had hoped, the surface tension of the water finally broke and the creature fell in. Being a particularly dumb species, it tried to do the worst thing imaginable - it tried to breathe. Climbing out of the water, I witnessed the spasms of the creature as it drowned below the surface. In a last ditch effort, motivated by rage, it threw its kanabou up out of the water in a high arc. I laid on the ground, exhausted as the kanabou finished its ascent and came crashing back down to earth. The problem was I was occupying the piece of ground it was going to land on. I had to roll out of the way and covered myself as the kanabou landed nearby, cratering the ground near me.

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Mori and I limped back to town exhausted, and Mori injured, but we had the monster's kanabou as a trophy for our troubles. Better yet, we found clues as to the disappearance of the children. However, we still had no idea how it all fit together. The presence of kitsune, oni, and the events of the missing children couldn't be coincidence.

Paying a visit to the chirurgeon, we quickly came under the impression something was wrong. The doctor looked stricken as we came up to his door. "Stranger, I'm sorry, but I'm afraid your daughter has been taken."

Worried about Fumiya, I steeled myself anyways. I'd not find her by panicking. "Take care of Mori, I'm going to look for her." The doctor led me to the room he had been using as a nursery for Fumiya. What I saw, made my head spin. As a trained tracker among other things, I found the webbed tracks leading to the river. Judging by the size, I could guess what creatures they belonged to. _First kitsune, then oni, and now kappa. What is going on here?_

Determined not to lose the trail, I dashed away, following the tracks. That is what first led me to the kappa city.

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Once inside, I employed my original stealth techniques once again. Outnumbered probably many thousand to one, sneaking in and out with the children would be the ideal tactic. If only I could find them that is. Laboriously I moved through the city avoiding kappa at every corner. Setting my sights upon a promising-looking intricate stalagmite, I looked therein. My ears perked up as I heard a giggle emanate from deep within. I recognized the infantile giggle as Fumiya's. In the central room, there were a few decrepit looking kappa, though my eyes were untrained in seeing this at the time. Among them were the children kidnapped from the village. Their eyes were glazed over as if entranced. A type of palsy had settled over the lot of them. All except for Fumiya. She continued to be lively in contrast to the others. Deciding I could take on the small turtle-men, I uncloaked myself in front of the one that most closely clung to the children.

Before I could complete my strike, one of the other kappa made a sort of hand motion and the jade-stone making up the structure branched upward creating a cage separating me and my target and trapping me. The creatures were, by now, quite animated. I could guess that they may have been debating how to kill me, for it would be what I would do in their stead. "Who is your leader?" I asked. Trusting that the kappa have learned more of humans than we of them, I asked this and was rewarded with an answer. Without exception, they all pointed to the one that seemed to be standing with all the missing children. "Why have you taken the villagers children?" I asked. This time, all the kappa, save for their leader, tittered nervously. It seemed that this one kappa may have been the sole reason for the kappa's actions. And I saw why.

The illusion was so perfect, even I could not detect it. But little Fumiya somehow could. She broke the illusion for just a second by playfully tugging at an invisible object behind the kappa leader. It turned out to be a fluffy tail. The illusion wavered only for a split second, so the other kappa did not see. I did, however.

"I stand as your vanquished foe, oh great kappa. Let us exchanged our respects as adversaries before you kill me." I said and bowed. Kappa, according to most tales, had a solid sense of politeness and decorum. The kappa leader could not fail to return the bow in the presence of other kappa. It would be rude. So he did. It was the opportunity I needed.

The top of the kappa's head looked to be an open divot filled with water. It's called _okappa-atama_ by the uninitiated. In reality, it's a gland with a slim translucent cover to hold in this vital essence. As he bowed I grabbed at it through the bars of my cage. I dug in my fingers and tore out the gland. As I pulled it away however, the gland was revealed to be not a _okappa-atama_ but a kitsune's star ball. The kappa leader was revealed to the a kitsune posing as their leader with his sophisticated illusions that fooled everyone. Everyone that is, save for one young infant. By now the kappa were frantic as their leader was revealed to be a kitsune. I solved their problem by jabbing my kunai into the star ball and the kitsune fell dead.

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"Later on we pieced together the completed story. The kitsune was the mother of the kits slain by the oni. In her despair, she went mad. Taking control of the kappa she used them to kidnap the human children to replace the ones she had lost. The kappa were glad to have the deception revealed, hence why we are welcome now. They heaped honors upon us, same as the villagers once their children were safely back. All that doesn't matter though, what matters is that we found a home." I finished the story for Omiko. She looked wide-eyed and delighted by the tale. Before she could ask any questions though, Oriyume came back.

"Shingomu-sama will see you now."


End file.
